Break-away
November 21, 2025
When people talk about the smallest of our three Vineyard airports, Trade Winds, I think to myself that they should look up to see if a plane is about to land. But they also need to look down, because this site doubles as a dog park.
My ol’ man took me there yesterday. It was mid-morning, a bit late for our usual stroll, but it had warmed up and was sunny and bright and felt good to get my feet on the ground. For the first mile or so I stayed right by my ol’ man’s side, leash less, feeling comfortable. Once he told me to walk ahead of him, which I did, proudly marching along.
A couple of dogs were also on the track. I felt comfortable enough just to sniff and be sniffed, rather than bark aggressively. Sometimes I can handle one dog or another; other times any canine I see makes me anxious and turns me into a barking machine.
Three-quarters of the way around the trail something urged me to take off. And I did. I raced off through the trees, up and over or under branches and bushes, emerging onto a golf course of all things. What a treat. I raced around, dashing one way then another. I caught my ol’ man out of the corner of my eye, but I was having too much fun to slow down.
After a while he gave up trying to catch me, and that meant it was time to throw in the towel and slow down. I came up to him, looking for a treat, but all he did was slap the leash on and lead me back onto the trail. The rest of the walk was uneventful, seeing and sniffing a few dogs, then back in the car.
But I wasn’t done. Much later, back home, my ol’ man opened the slider to call out to my missus. Seeing a half-open door was too much to ignore. Off I raced, across the lawn, down the street, dashing through one yard into another. I know my ol’ man and my missus were laughing to see me race from one tree to the next, searching for squirrels, and then running off, tail held high as I ran.
Like all good escapes, this one eventually tired me out, and I saw my ol’ man patiently heading my way, treat in hand this time. Soon I was leashed up, enjoying the Pup-eronie, heading back to the house, crawling into my crate for a much-deserved snooze.
Yesterday was one for the books!
Kutter
